The Missionaries of God's Love

Cross and Flame (December 2000)

The Missionaries of God’s Love

The Missionaries of God’s Love began in 1985 in Canberra, Australia.

The MGL brothers and sisters dedicate themselves to living the Gospel by sharing a common life of prayer, and by consecrating themselves to the Lord in poverty, chastity and obedience.

At the heart of the MGL is the mystery of the Cross and the Flame. The Cross is the most eloquent manifestation of the love of God for the world, while the flame is the sign of the Holy Spirit, poured out upon the Church at Pentecost. As priests, brothers and sisters, we are called to proclaim this love of God to all men and women.

The MGL Brothers have houses in Canberra, Melbourne, Darwin and Manila (The Philippines). The MGL Sisters have houses in Canberra and Darwin.

The MGL are part of Disciples of Jesus Covenant Community, which consists of families and single people living a common way of life in the Church.

In these final days of the Jubilee Year, we draw near once more to the great celebration of Christmas.

As this year comes to an end, we in the Missionaries of God’s Love look back with gratitude to the Lord for the many blessings of the past year.

Of course, at this time we are especially aware of the gift of priesthood to the Church as we welcome Daniel Benedetti to Holy Orders.

We are also very grateful to all those who in a myriad of ways support the MGL. A Happy and Holy Christmas to you all.

Reflections...

Dear brothers and sisters,

One of the great challenges of the active spiritual life is to find a balance between quiet prayer and generous service. In Mark’s gospel we are told that after the apostles had been engaged in a particularly intensive time of ministry, Jesus said to them " You must come away to some lonely place all by yourselves and rest for a while"(Mk.6/31). There had been so many people coming and going that the apostles hardly had time to eat. No doubt Jesus himself was looking forward to a break from the apostolate in order to be refreshed in prayer and brotherhood.

In his humanity the Lord must have been quite dismayed when after taking a boat to their get-away place that he found the crowds had already arrived before them and were waiting impatiently for more ministry. Even though Jesus must have been tempted to turn the people away, his apostolic heart of love would not allow him to do so. We are told he was moved deeply with compassion for the people because they were like sheep without a shepherd. He set himself to teach them for the rest of the day. The truly apostolic heart is always ready to be stretched in service of others, always prepared to be expanded in love, not afraid of the cost of service and able to find hidden reserves of energy to go beyond one’s comfort zone for the sake of others. However this is only possible if we are drinking deeply from the well-spring of the Holy Spirit within, which is fostered by quiet times alone with God.

The apostles must have been groaning and complaining throughout the day. Their personal space had been invaded, their plans for a quiet restful day destroyed. Yet the Lord teaches them that even when they have little to give (just five loaves and fish) they will never run out of resources when He is present. In fact they will have more than they need. Jesus did not give the loaves to the people himself. Rather he handed them to the apostles to give to the people. How amazed the apostles must have been as they experienced the loaves were not running out. There was more and more and even more again!

There is an important sequel to this story of apostolic generosity. We are told that after this long day of ministry.

Jesus sent the crowds away, and the apostles went off in the boat to another place. The "after saying goodbye to them he went off into the hills to pray"(6/46). This is so important to notice! He went aside with the Father into silence to be in restful communion, to be restored and to listen attentively to the Father’s voice. This is the secret of his capacity to be stretched in ministry, this is the secret of his never ending capacity to serve in a whole-hearted way.

In the busy life of serving others there is always a danger of living at a superficial level, responding mindlessly to the many demands and pressures, being driven in an almost compulsive manner, succumbing to an unhealthy activism. There is a need to have our life of service punctuated by times aside with the Lord. These times allow us to integrate what is happening in all the activities of our busy life. They save us from fragmentation by allowing us to listen to the Lord’s priorities, and help us to put meaning into situations which would otherwise be our undoing. The burdens of our life of service can sometimes seem too heavy to bear. We need to draw aside often to allow the Lord to show us how it all makes sense within his overall provident plan.

Of course a life of active service offers in itself many rich moments of contemplative encounter with Jesus. We especially meet Jesus in the people we serve. For example, visiting someone who is sick or dying is in itself a beautiful grace-filled moment of encounter with Jesus. However, finding God in moments like this is not a substitute for solitude. We still need to draw aside to be alone with the Lord in order to reflect upon these special moments more deeply. This reflection allows these experiences to become a means for us to grow in compassion.

My dear friends, let us imitate Jesus. He generously gave himself fully to the service of others, and yet he never allowed himself to become fragmented or dispersed. His regular time aside with the Father in solitude enabled him to integrate his life and to channel all his energies in the service of love. There will be no "burn-out" for those who learn the art of silence and solitude. They will simply grow constantly in their capacity to love because the whole focus of their life is on the Beloved, and they are dedicated to spending quality time in personal communion with Him.

Spiritual Association News

2pm Saturday, 6^th Jan, 2001. Celebration of the Eucharist with Fr Tony Schick MGL, at the home of Margaret Mary Hayes. Call Margaret Mary on (07) 3349 1944, if you are going to come.

2pm Saturday, 4^th Feb. Fr David Tremble MGL will celebrate Mass with the Association members at the Mercy Convent, 23 Keera St. Cooparoo.

ALSO: On the 9^th –11^th Feb, 2001 Shekinah Ministries are hosting their 18^th annual retreat at O’Reilly’s Guesthouse in Canungra, Qld. Fr David Tremble MGL is the main speaker. Contact Maureen White on (07) 55449145 for more details.

The next issue of The Cross and the Flame will contain all the other Spiritual Association Reflection Day dates for the year.

The Ordination of Fr. Daniel Benedetti

St. Christopher’s Cathedral in Canberra was the site of great jubilation and rejoicing on Friday, Dec 1, 2000, as Daniel Benedetti MGL was ordained to the priesthood. Many people from around the country converged on Canberra to witness this "Jubilee ordination", and to celebrate with Daniel. Archbishop Francis Carroll ordained Daniel.

Many priests of the Archdiocese of Canberra- Goulburn, as well as priests who had known Daniel as he grew up in Wangaratta, and other priest- friends of Daniel were present to celebrate with him. The laying on of hands by the priests, and the traditional welcome of Daniel to the ranks of the presbyterate were among the most moving parts of the beautiful liturgy.

This wonderful occasion marks the end of nine years of formation for Daniel, including five years of academic study in Melbourne and a "mission year" in Tari, Papua New Guinea. Daniel also spent time in Canberra, Adelaide, Bega, and at St. Benedict’s Parish, Narrabundah as part of his formation.

While his ordination was the culmination of this time of formation, Dec 1 also marked the beginning of priestly ministry for Daniel. Daniel’s Mass of Thanksgiving took place the following morning. Daniel celebrated the liturgy with his customary enthusiasm and joy, and a number of people were heard to comment that he looked as if he had been saying Mass all his life. Fr Daniel’s homily focussed upon the words of Peter to Jesus, "Lord, to whom shall we go, you have the words of eternal life". He encouraged those present to look to Jesus, our hope and the source of true life.

Daniel is the eighth Missionary of God’s Love to be ordained to the priesthood. This brings the number of priests in the MGL to ten (Frs Ken and Don were already ordained when they came to the MGL). Daniel will spend his first year of priesthood in Canberra.

Please pray for Daniel, for all the other MGL priests, and for more vocations to the priesthood in the Missionaries of God’s Love.

MGL News

The weekend of the ordination has traditionally concluded with the celebration of vows and promises on the Sunday, and this year was no exception. Two brothers, Brian Steele and Chris Ryan, made their final vows within the Missionaries of God’s Love. After five years in initial vows, these two men made the significant step of committing themselves to the Lord by vowing to live a life of poverty, chastity and obedience as MGLs. These vows are lifelong, and therefore entail a final commitment to consecrated life in the MGL.

Ray Ellwood and Marcellin Nooki made initial vows on Dec 3. This commitment is also a significant step on the journey. It means that these men believe that they are called to the MGL way of life and mission, and thus also vow to live poverty, chastity and obedience. This sense of call will be tested by these men and by the MGL over the next five years, at which time they will be eligible for final vows.

Jun Bello, David Callaghan, Therese Mills and Kylie Bradford entered into the MGL novitiate on Dec 3. The novitiate involves a time of intense prayer and discernment as their sense of call to consecrated life is tested. Please pray for all these brothers and sisters.

Fr Don Coutts returned from Papua New Guinea just in time for the celebrations outlined above. During the year Fr Don was injured in a car accident, and has been in some considerable pain since that time. He remained in PNG, and was incredibly reluctant when the time came for him to depart for Australia. Fr Don had grown to love the people of PNG over this year, and so it was with great sorrow that he made his farewell. Despite the pain he is experiencing and the sadness at leaving PNG Fr Don remains his irrepressible, cheerful self. His contribution to the PNG mission and to the MGL this year has been invaluable. And of course, Fr Don has made it clear that he is very keen to go back! Please keep him in your prayers.

The future of the PNG mission has been in a process of discernment for much of this year. In late November, the decision was made for the MGL to withdraw from PNG for a time as we are unable to staff the mission at this point. The MGL intend to return to PNG at a favourable point in the future. Please pray that this time comes quickly.